Ninety minutes, twenty-seven homes, one month

One match ball. Twenty-seven care homes from Ayr to Alness. One month. Ninety minutes of movement in every single home, with a target of a pound a minute for Age Scotland.

On paper it reads like a logistics problem. In practice it was the best month of the year, and it was run almost entirely by activity coordinators, carers, chefs, housekeepers and home managers on top of a normal shift.

How it actually came together

The ball started at Greenan Manor in Ayr and finished at Redwoods in Alness. Each home had it for a slot, planned its own 90 minutes around the people living there, then handed it on.

Nobody was given a script. That is deliberate, and it is how most things work here: a home knows its own residents better than any central plan does, so the brief was the 90 minutes and the rest was theirs.

• Crimond House in Aberdeenshire ran a full sports day.
• Kynnaird House in Fraserburgh built a cheerleading routine, residents and colleagues together.
• Mearns House held a tartan parade through the halls before Scotland played Brazil.
• Kincaid House brought in Glenbrae Nursery and the Greenock Morton u16s regional squad.
• Redwoods hosted a display by Fyrish Gymnastics in Alness, then kept the party going.

Everybody in, at whatever pace

Participants ran from age two to age 103. Walking counted. Dancing counted. Stretching in a chair counted, and so did waving a flag or singing along.

That inclusive framing matters more than it sounds. A resident who normally sits out group activities took part because there was no wrong way to join in, and colleagues noticed that days later.

This is an incredible result from our colleagues and residents; going the extra mile, as always. The Meallmore Big Kick Off did more than raise money for an important cause, it promoted connection, laughter, wellbeing, inclusion and created moments that residents, colleagues and the local communities could enjoy together.

The bit that is really about the job

A month like this is not a distraction from care work. Movement, company and something to look forward to are part of wellbeing, and organising them well is a genuine skill that activity and wellbeing roles are built around.

It is also a fair picture of the job. There is structure, there are standards, and then there is a Wednesday afternoon where you are taping bunting to a handrail because a nursery class is due in twenty minutes.

Colleagues have also raised money outside the Kick Off, including a team taking on The Kelpies Experience at Helix Park in Falkirk. Across the past eight months, the total for Age Scotland has passed £8,000.

We are genuinely in awe of the dedication, commitment and creativity that staff, residents and their families have shown in raising such a large amount of money for Age Scotland.

If this sounds like your kind of place

We recruit for the same instinct the Kick Off ran on: people who look at a quiet afternoon and think it could be better. Training, career pathways and learning and development are there to build the technical side around that.

Start with our careers pages to see what the roles involve, read how we recognise colleagues, or see the rest of the stories on Great Places to Work.